Page 25 of Taken By the Fae King

As if reading my mind, Aren says, “It is pitch black. We have a better advantage in the air than we do on the ground.”

“Gather our warriors. We must leave at once.” I dart a glance at my A’lyra, still sleeping soundly in my arms. “And bring me a tunic and pants.”

His brow furrows, but he gives an affirmative nod before flying away.

As soon as he is gone, I whisper. “Grayce. Wake up.” Her eyelids flutter open. “We have to leave. There are Orcs coming this way.”

With a sharp inhale, she jerks up to sitting. Tentatively, she reaches for me. “Kyven?” her voice is barely a whisper as she touches my arm. Tracing her hand down to mine, she grips it firmly. “I can hardly see anything. You’ll have to guide me.”

My heart clenches as her scent sours with fear. I’d forgotten how poor human night vision is compared to ours. “We’re going to fly from here, quick and fast. We—”

I stop talking as Aren returns. His fluttering wings stir the air around us, scattering the smell of her fear into the forest. The Orcs will scent her for sure if they get any closer.

He hands me the clothing and I press it into Grayce’s hands. “What is this?”

“You need to change into a tunic and pants,” I explain. “While we’re in the air, I may need my arms free if we’re attacked. So you will have to hold onto me if that happens, and you cannot do that in a fancy dress. Do you understand?”

She nods.

“We must hurry.”

Swallowing hard, she bites her lower lip and draws in a shaking breath. She reaches behind her to undo the lacing on her fine dress, and I grit my teeth in frustration. I’ll never understand why human fashions are so complex. At this rate, it’s going to take forever for her to undress.

“They’re nearly here,” Aren whispers urgently.

Panic spikes through me, and I extend my claws. “Forgive me, Grayce,” I whisper as I slash through the laces, careful not to hurt her.

She inhales sharply as the bodice sags forward and the dress falls from her body, pooling around her feet, and leaving her only in a light shift. Each of my warriors turns away, knowing better than to stare at my mate in such a state of partial undress.

I rest her hands on my shoulders and drop to my knees as I hold out the pants. “Left foot,” I instruct, and she lifts her leg so I can slide the left side onto her. “Now, the right.” I do the same and then quickly pull them up her body.

She is smaller than one of our females, and the pants are long and loose on her form. Quickly I slice away the material to shorten them, and then swiftly remove my own belt and speedily tie it around her waist in a knot to keep them up.

I tuck a dagger into her belt and place her hand on the handle. “Do not hesitate to use this if we are attacked.”

She nods quickly. To her credit, she remains still allowing me to work fast, and I slip the tunic over her head. It is so large it fits her like a dress and hangs off one shoulder. I slice away more material to free her hands and then pull her close to me.

Without hesitation, I lift her into my arms, and she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck while I support her with one hand on her backside and another looped around her back. “Ready?”

“Yes,” she replies quickly, and we lift into the air.

CHAPTER16

GRAYCE

My stomach drops as Kyven takes off. His wings beat furiously as he weaves through the trees. It’s so dark, I can only make out the vague outline of his wings and body and I can see nothing of the ground below us. I only know we’re not above the canopy when Aren hisses. “Keep low and move quietly. We’ll use the trees for cover as long as we can.”

Panic twists deep inside me, but I force it back down as I hang onto Kyven.

His warm hand finds my face.“Are you all right?”he asks, and it takes me a moment to realize he is speaking in my mind.

“Yes,”I think the words back to him, wondering if it worked.“How far is it to Anlora?”

“We still have another day’s travel ahead. We will have to find somewhere to spend the night tomorrow,”he replies grimly.“There is a shorter route, but Wraith have been spotted along that way, so we took this one to go around. And now, it seems this one is not any safer.”

“If it makes you feel any better: Between Wraith and Orcs, I’d prefer Orcs any day,”I reply.

“Truly?”

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